Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders looked to the future when it came to the Wednesday’s CFL draft.

The defending Grey Cup champions selected six players in the annual draft of Canadian talent. Only time will tell what their individual contributions will be to the Riders but the team is in the luxurious position of being able to wait. That’s what happens when any club has 26 or 27 Canadias competing for the 20 non-import spots.

“(Rider general manager) Eric Tillman has done such a great job of looking forward,” Joe Womack, the Riders director of player personnel, said Wednesday. “We have a great roster and we’re ahead of where we were last year at this time. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win it all again, but we’re in a better position to do that.

“When you are in that position roster-wise, you need to look at good Canadian football players who are futures. There happened to be more of those with quality-filled futures in this draft than we have seen for a long time.”

The Riders did that with their first pick (fourth overall) by selecting Keith Shologan, a top-rated defensive end out of the University of Central Florida. Shologan, 6-foot-3, 312 pounds, is so highly regarded that he signed with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers shortly after the NFL draft concluded Sunday. That decision means it’s unlikely that Shologan will be with the Riders when camp opens on June 1 at Mosaic Stadium. It’s also a gamble because Shologan may just catch on with the Chargers.

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